ESU cuts 8 faculty, 3 degree programs

Thursday

Oct 31, 2013 at 12:01 AMNov 9, 2013 at 10:13 AM

In an effort to reduce a projected $6.9 million deficit next year, East Stroudsburg University administrators announced the layoffs of eight faculty members, the elimination of three degree programs, three minors and one non-degree department Wednesday.

CHRISTINA TATU

* A previous version of this story contained wrong information due to incorrect figures provided by East Stroudsburg University.

In an effort to reduce a projected $6.9 million deficit next year, East Stroudsburg University administrators announced the layoffs of eight faculty members, the elimination of three degree programs, three minors and one non-degree department Wednesday.

"I'm offended by people who think this is easy for us," said ESU President Marcia Welsh, who was clearly emotional during a press conference held by the university Wednesdayafternoon. "I've been called names I didn't even know were in the dictionary. It has been very painful."

Wednesday was the deadline for the administration to announce layoffs of tenured faculty, as well as any departmental changes that will go into effect in the 2014-15 academic year.

The deadline has been preceded by much strife between the faculty and administration, student petitions in favor of saving departments and professors, and a large student rallyTuesday across from the Reibman Administration Building.

"We are a very good school, and we will continue to be a very good school," Welsh said after breaking the news Wednesday.

Degree programs that will be eliminated include a bachelor's of art in French, a bachelor's of science in French Secondary Education Teacher Certification and a bachelor's of art in music.

Minors in French, German and music will also be eliminated, though general education classes will continue to be offered in French and German.

Students will no longer be accepted into those degree programs that are going to be eliminated, and those who are already majoring in them will be provided with the classes necessary to finish out their degrees "in a timely manner," ESU officials said.

One non-degree program, the Department of Movement Activities and Lifetime Fitness, will be closed at the end of the spring semester 2014.

The department currently provides two credit hours of instruction that satisfy a university-wide requirement for all undergrads.

The department has no major and a single minor in dance, which is being moved to the Department of Physical Education Teacher Education.

Italian courses in the Department of Modern Languages will also no longer be offered.

In addition to those eliminated programs, administrators are examining course offerings in chemistry and physics.

The chemistry department will continue to offer B.S./B.A. degrees in chemistry and biochemistry.

"The department has seven degree programs and concentrations which are continuing to be evaluated for possible consolidation or phasing out. Final decisions about the full set of chemistry programs and classes are continuing to be assessed and will be announced as soon as possible during this year's ongoing assessment," according to information provided by the university on Wednesday.

The physics department will continue to offer B.S. and B.A. degrees in physics and a B.S. in secondary education for teacher certification.

The department has 17 degree programs and concentrations which will continue to be evaluated for possible consolidation or phasing out, according to the information.

The reason for these reductions in physics and chemistry is the high cost of the departments' curriculum offerings as they are currently constructed and offered, administrators said.

Earlier this week, the administration announced eight tenured faculty were offered transfers to other ESU departments.

Van Reidhead, provost and vice president of academic affairs, said his office examined department enrollments, graduation trends, program costs, program quality and the capacity departments have to streamline course offerings by reducing electives and eliminating low-enrollment concentrations.

Programs that continue to be examined for cuts have a low number of majors.

There are 60 majors in physics and 107 in chemistry. There are only seven in French and 12 in music, he said.

"We have programs that are under-enrolled, and then we have other departments that are bursting at the seams," Reidhead said.

Ken Long, vice president for administration and finance, said changes had to be made because of a combination of decreasing enrollments, decreasing revenue and increasing expenditures.

Ken Mash, vice president of ESU's faculty union, says the process of layoffs and program reductions will only continue as the two deadlines for non-tenured faculty to be notified of layoffs approaches on Dec. 1 and Dec. 15.

"The responsibility of the administration and the union, according to the State System of Higher Education, is to minimize retrenchment," Mash said.

He criticized the administration, saying they have been unwilling to work with faculty and have not been transparent in their plans.

"We are finding out about this at the same time everyone else is being notified," Mash said.

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